Those holding fast to their hard-earned cash for a StarCraft II Christmas might want to spend elsewhere as Activision Blizzard today confirmed what many hoped would not happen: StarCraft II slipping into the first quarter of 2010.

Our mission is to develop games that deliver an epic entertainment experience. As part of that commitment, we will always take as much time as needed to ensure that our games and services meet the expectations of our players and the standard for quality that we set for ourselves as developers. As we work to make Battle.net the premier online gaming destination, we'll also continue to polish and refine StarCraft II, and we look forward to delivering a real-time strategy gaming experience worthy of the series' legacy in the first half of 2010.

So apparently the new Battle.net is to blame, which Shacknews pointed out has Activision CEO Bobby Kotick suggesting the service is akin to Xbox Live, or Steam, giving a more solid reason for the push back. However, this delay won't affect the development and impending release date for Diablo III, according to Activision Blizzard.

I think that Diablo 3 looked like it was really coming along design-wise when they announced it. Given that the new Battle.net will already be ready for the release of StarCraft II, I wouldn't be surprised by a Christmas 2010 release of Diablo 3.